Winter Sonata
by silentstarlight
Summary: [Manga spoilerscanon]Five years ago, she disappeared. Now, as his staff urges him to hire a secetary to help him with all his paperwork, he hires a woman named Melissa Hawkeye, who only remembers parts of her adult life. Who is she really? royai [edited]
1. Reflection

**Winter Sonata**

**Chapter one

* * *

**

"Junsho," Hawkeye spoke with a stack of papers in her arms, "Please read and sign these." The papers were dropped on Mustang's desk with a thump, and he groaned. '_When would the paperwork end?'_, he grabbed a handful of papers and started to read them. He half wished Fullmetal, who had disappeared a year ago, would come in so he could yell at him. Funny how life grants our wishes in time.

The next day was one of Hawkeye's rare days off. It felt nice, doing paperwork without someone breathing down your neck. Mustang still wished that Fullmetal would come in so he could yell at him.

It was then that the earthquake struck, and he dove under his desk while the room was shaking. He popped his head when it was over, only to have a chunk of the ceiling fall dangerously close to his head.

About an hour after Mustang had sent his subordinates out to the city to see how they fared, did they enter the office. They told Mustang about the damages in the city. Buildings had collapsed, many had died. It that one person's body that they could not find that shook him to the core.

* * *

Mustang woke up to Black Hayate licking his face and barking. He looked around the room. The earthquake had happened five years ago, no trace of her had been found, nothing had been heard of her ever since. Roy Mustang in five years time had risen from Brigadier General to the top of the military, the status of President. He was thirty-eight now, an occasional strand of white could be found in his black hair. His eyes, once dark and hard, had softened throughout the years.

Roy shook his head, Hawkeye's body had never been found, he and his subordinates still mourned over her. She was the one who made sure all the paperwork had been done, even if it was at gunpoint. She helped him not the stray off the path that led him to where he was now, heck, she was practically his bodyguard, constantly keeping watch. Yep, she lived up to her name, Hawkeye.

The clock read 5:30, 30 more minutes till his alarm would ring. Roy got up and stretched, then bent down to pet Black Hayate. Black Hayate, wasn't that the name of a military plane? Well, he wasn't the one that had named him, she had.

* * *

A woman had stepped off the train at Central. Part of her shoulder length blond hair was tied back. Behind her glasses were amber eyes, and two children were holding her hands. Her name was Melissa Hawkeye. The two kids, twins, were the children of her deceased sister. She had died four years earlier, and now they were moving to Central.

Melissa, or more commonly referred to as the shortened version of her middle name, Lizabeth, as most of her friends called her, was hoping to find a job. Until now, the trio had lived off the money her sister had left them. Once depleted, she decided to sell the house and move into an apartment. Besides, in a city this big, there had to be job opportunities.

"Mother", The twins never called Lizabeth 'Aunt', but they did call her Mother. They referred to their real mother as mom, or mommy. "Where are we going?" The older twin, Leslie, Lee, asked her. Her brother, Royal, or Roy, nodded his head in agreement.

"We're going home." They walked up to the apartment complex.

"Can we play on the playground?" The kids pointed to the play area in front of the building. There were other children playing with their mothers standing watch. Deeming it safe, she said yes, and went into the apartment that would now be their home. Luckily, Lizabeth had come a week earlier to get the place ready, it seemed too troublesome, trying to unpack boxes with five year olds underfoot.

Spaghetti seemed good that night. Her eyes felt like they were throbbing, she wrote is off as reading the miniscule print in the classified section in the newspaper. But nonetheless, Lizabeth made a mental note of seeing the optometrist for a check up. While stirring the sauce, she reflected over her life. She had knocked her head on a rock in the river during the earthquake, causing her to lose some of her memory and that had been the beginning of her eye problems. She remembered her childhood and parts of her teenage life, but after that, only fragments and voices would come to her. The red sauce started to boil, Lizabeth started to dish out dinner on plates. Once done, she stepped out on the balcony to call the twins in for dinner.

"Lee", she yelled out, and even louder, "Roy! Dinner time!"

* * *

Roy Mustang was deep in thought when a voice broke through, "Roy! Dinner time!" Roy looked around, seeing no one, he sighed. He could have sworn that he heard Hawkeye's voice telling him to eat dinner. He sighed again, and his eyes were dark, "Riza Hawkeye, why are you coming back to haunt me?" Still, he walked to the kitchen and started to eat.

* * *

Second Chapter will be up as soon as I can type it... Story based off the drama Winter Sonata,it was really good.

Edited June 5th 2005

Edited December 24, 2006


	2. Who is she?

**Winter Sonata**

**Chapter Two

* * *

**

"You know what Roy?" Hughes said as he pushed stacks of papers aside to see Roy's face, "You need a secretary, someone to help you with all your work and keep you on track."

"Yeah," Havoc broke in, "A huge stack of papers fell on me yesterday. Fury had to uncover me, I thought I was going to die….." Tears started to roll off his face, "….but!" he grabbed Hughes and started to hug him, "I'm still ALIVE!"

Everyone else in the room sweatdropped. "Even better Roy," Maes continued, "You should get married!" He flashed a few photos and started waving them around. "I mean look at my cute daughter and my beautiful wife! She'll be turning 11 soon, and boys will come to flock around her." He started to shake his fist, "but none of them will even be able to **_SEE_** her unless they're worthy.

"Fine!" Roy threw his hands up, "once a suitable candidate is found, I'll hire them."

* * *

Lizabeth was looking at a bulletin board when a sign caught her eye. 'Help wanted', it read, 'Secretary job, will pay well. All interested please meet at the Central Headquarter tomorrow at 8 AM. Those who are late will not be accepted.'

It had been a week of futile searching, and this was a good of an opportunity as any. If this didn't work, she'd have to find her father's old alchemy student Roy Mustang and ask for his help.

* * *

She entered the office of the Fuhrer at 7:50 AM, 10 minutes early. Only five others were there. By 8 o'clock , only 10 more people had arrived, making a total of 16. Hughes stepped into the room.

"Welcome," he said, smiling, "you here have all passed the first part of the test." Everyone stared at him with the same question in his or her eyes. What test?

"There are 20 others in the building," he continued, "but only you people asked for instructions and made it into the correct room." The evil glint that appeared in his eyes just before he showed pictures of his family appeared. "So, for a reward, you all get to see pictures of my incredibly cute daughter and beautiful wife!" 11 people protested, saying that they had come to get a job, not to see some guy's family photos. Havoc walked in.

"You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and you." He pointed to each of the people protesting. "Come with me," Lizabeth and the 10 others followed him through the door. He told them to sit wherever they wanted and instructed everyone to get something to write with, something to write on, and paper. Four people were dismissed for not being prepared. Then they were given a list to alphabetize. Two more people were dismissed, one for messy handwriting, the other for not putting the words in alphabetical order. Five people were left, three women and 2 men. Before the five went through the next door, Havoc said loudly so everybody could hear, "The Fuhrer has a meeting a ten." And he left them in Armstrong's care.

Armstrong told them that they would be fighting. At this, his shirt mysteriously disappeared and he flexed his muscles. The candidates all sweatdropped. Unfortunately (fortunately for them of course), he said that they wouldn't be fighting against him, and with that, an audible sigh was heard.

"Excuse me sir," one man asked, "are we allowed to use weapons?" Armstrong nodded and wished them good luck. And in came Mustang.

Mustang was dressed normally, so that the candidates wouldn't know who he is. "Whichever one of you gets the job," he said, "will be the secretary to the Fuhrer." A gasp was heard, and Lizabeth pushed her glasses up. "As his personal secretary, you will get to know quite a lot about the Fuhrer. And therefore a target in assassination attempts and kidnapping plots, as you will be accompanying him everywhere." Mustang inspected them for a moment. "The military will also protect you, but they cannot be everywhere." He pointed to the two other women in the room. "You and you will go first." They both stood in front of each other in the middle of the room. "Fight!"

The two women were about equal. The first woman wore pants and had short hair, but her fighting skills were rusty. The second woman looked like she had more experience, but was hindered by her skirt, which was knee length, and her long hair, which was not tied. After about two minutes of dodges, blocks, attempted kicks and punches, the second woman succeeded in pinning the other down. She was declared the winner of that round and would fight again in the third round after Lizabeth and man #1.

Lizabeth was also disadvantaged. It wasn't that she was a bad fighter, and she was armed. But she wore a long skirt that went down to her ankles, but she had some leg movement because the skirt was swishy. At least her hair was kept out of the way by a clip. While is thought, she missed Mustang yelling, "Fight!" So, it was a bit of a surprise when Man #1 came charging at her. _'Obviously, the only thing this guy can do is swing his fists around'_, she thought. Getting annoyed, she knocked the man off his feet by using her arms as a support and swinging her legs, making a hooking movement to bring him down. Lizabeth was the winner.

Round three was short. The first woman and man #2 were up against each other. When Mustang yelled, "Fight!", the man grabbed the woman's wrist. She smirked, opening her hand as wide as possible to loosen his grip. She swung his arm out then brought it back in immediately. Then the woman, using both hands, twisted the man's hands away from his body, hard, until he fell from the force and the pain. This had happened all in a span of a few seconds. Hughes who had come right on time to see the whole thing, whistled. He turned to Lizabeth and said, "I wish you good luck against her, missy." Only then did he really look at her, and he stared,

Noticing his stare, Lizabeth asked if something was wrong.

"Nothing," he said, "I thought you were someone else." _'A someone else who Roy has been looking for.'_, he thought, _'Has Hawkeye come back? Who is she really?'_ Hughes broke his train of thought to see the two women fight.

It was quite interesting, since neither could kick. Finally the woman tripped Lizabeth, causing her to fall. She rolled on the ground and immediately stood up and came behind the other woman. She wrapped her left arm around the woman's chest, pinning her arms down, not allowing her to move. With her right hand, she brought out a knife that was concealed in her hair clip. Lizabeth brought the knife to the woman's neck, who stood very still at the sight of the knife. She looked at Mustang, who nodded his head, and she lowered the knife.

The two women shook hands, "Thank you. I haven't been scared like that for some time." Lizabeth smiled in response.

"Excuse me, miss." Hughes said as he tapped Lizabeth's shoulder, "we would like to have a talk with you."

"I hope the fates will allow us to meet again," the woman said. She waved farewell and walked towards the exit.

Lizabeth turned to face Mustang, and bowed to him.

"Why are you bowing to me?" he asked.

"You happened to be Fuhrer Mustang.", she replied.

"Oh?" he questioned, "and how do you know that?"

"Your picture has been the newspaper several times, Fuhrer Mustang. You were also my father's alchemy student."

Hughes and Mustang stared. 'Her father's alchemy student.' The same thought ran though their heads.

"Observant", observed Hughes shakily. He sent his friend, who was as white as a sheet, a glance that told him to be quiet and let him take care of this. "You seemed to be well suited for this job." He asked, "Why do you want this job anyway, Ms….."

"Miss Hawkeye?", Lizabeth finished. "Melissa Hawkeye."

'Hawkeye', the name resonated though their minds. If her first name had been Elizabeth…

"I would like this job", she said, getting their attention, "So I can support my family."

The clock rang. It was ten o'clock.

"Excuse me, Fuhrer Mustang," she asked, "Don't you have a meeting to attend to?"

Mustang smiled weakly, still in shock that he found a woman with the surname Hawkeye and looked like Riza. In fact, with the fact that she had reveled that she was the daughter of his sensei… He was sure. "Um," he said, "That was said just to see who paid attention." Mustang extended his hand, "Congratulation." and he said with difficulty, "Miss Hawkeye."

* * *

Thank you to all who reviewed! And yes! There is a Korean Drama called Winter Sonata, which is what this story is after. So I can't say that I own the characters or the plot. I'm surprised thatsomeone noticedthat. Chapter 3 will take longer because I have one more chapter of Chibi Yasha left, and I should update Koodori Joshuu. Thank you for your patience!

Edited by Ginger. Thankies!

Edited June 5th 2005

Edited December 24, 2006


	3. The Twins

A/N: You can blame school for the lack of updates…

Disclaimer: If I did own Fullmetal Alchemist, my sister would try to buy the rights to Mustang from me.

**Winter Sonata**

**Chapter 3

* * *

**

"Um," Roy started, "Would you like to look around the place?" Lizabeth nodded her head. He asked her to wait outside the door while he talked to Hughes for a minute.

"I'm going to do a thorough search on her." Hughes stated when they were alone. Roy nodded his head.

"Yes, please." Hughes nodded and went to get started.

Later…

Lizabeth considered the day successful. She now had a job, and a well paying one too. But she was allowed to threaten the Fuhrer to get his work done? She also had solved the problem of where the twins would be after school. Mustang's friend, Maes Hughes, had volunteered his wife to watch them after school. After calling her, Gracia, said that she would look after them.

* * *

Lizabeth took the ring off her ring finger to do the dishes. The phone rang and she quickly turned off the water and dried her hands

"Hello, this is the Hawkeye residence. How may I help you?"

"Lizabeth?" a man's voice asked.

"Brian!" she exclaimed, "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. Business is a bit slow right now. You found a job yet?"

"I'm now a secretary to a military personnel," she explained. "They're paying me well."

"Good. But did you have to move? I miss you a lot."

"Silly, after a year and a half, you'll be stuck with me for the rest of your life." She at the ring on the kitchen counter. "Shouldn't you be savoring your last free moments of freedom?"

A bell was heard. "Well, bye love." Brian said. "I have a customer, so I'll call you back later."

"Bye." And Lizabeth hung up.

* * *

"Roy", Hughes came in carrying two files, "you might want to look at these." The files were dropped on the desk, and Hughes sat down.

Each file was a profile, containing information about a Hawkeye.

Elizabeth Melissa Hawkeye

DOB: January 31, 1888 DOD: Death Pending

Born to Alexander and Melissa Hawkeye.

That was all he read, the rest of the information he already knew.

Melissa Elizabeth Hawkeye

DOB: January 31, 1888

Born to Alexander and Melissa Hawkeye. Lost memory in the 1919 earthquake. Is currently living with niece and nephew in Central. Engaged to be married to Brian Anderson.

Everything else about this Hawkeye was the same, from height to blood type. The only thing this Hawkeye didn't have was a military career. And the fact that Riza Hawkeye was a only child. It would be impossible for her to have a niece and nephew.

"There's something else that you should see." Hughes handed several copies on Roy's desk. Roy quickly skimmed though the papers.

"There is no record of Melissa Hawkeye in 1888."

"Yeah." Hughes glasses flashed dangerously. "And where Elizabeth Hawkeye disappears, Melissa appears."

* * *

"Roy!" Lizabeth yelled, "time to get up! Lee's eating her breakfast!"

Royal Windsor meekly obeyed his aunt and rolled out of bed.

**CLUNK**

**CLUNK**

**CRASH!**

**WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**

Lizabeth and Lee both ran into the bedroom, only to find Roy on the ground crying. He had rolled off the top bunk, thinking he was on the bottom one. Lizabeth checked the boy over, only to find that the boy had a broken leg.

"Lee," she ordered, "get your stuff, we're leaving." She scooped Roy in her arms, he was still crying.

* * *

Roy Mustang had gotten up at 6 AM, took a shower, fed Black Hayate, made himself breakfast (burnt toast), and was reading the newspaper when he decided to head out for work.

He put on his jacket, put Hayate on a leash and started out.

* * *

Lizabeth had just started out. Everything was finally in order, and she had a crying Roy Windsor in her arms and a teary looking Lee tugging on her skirt. She finally headed out the door, struggling to lock the door and holding Roy. Somehow, she managed and struggled to juggle everything while trying to carry Roy to the hospital.

"Here," a man took the boy out of her arms, in the middle of the sidewalk. "You need to get to a hospital, right?" He started walking to his car, which was parked by the side of the road with the engine still on.

Lizabeth looked into the eyes of her boss. She mutely nodded.

Roy Mustang nodded and motioned her to follow him.

Roy Mustang kept a car, he didn't use it often as he normally walked to the HQ. But something that day told him to drive, and he was glad he listened to it.

"Who are you?" The nurse at the desk asked.  
"Hawkeye. Melissa Hawkeye."

"And the boy is…" The nurse asked.

"Windsor. Royal Windsor. I think he has a broken leg." Under the calm façade, Lizabeth wanted to scream. 'Hurry." She thought, 'He's hurt!'

The nurse signaled a doctor, who then took care of the Royal Windsor, who still was crying. The nurse told her to wait, and she remembered that she would have to thank her boss for his help. She couldn't find him, but she'd felt the beginning of a headache coming on. And she went to sit in the waiting room.

Roy Mustang stood in front of a pay phone, talking with Hughes, explaining his current situation. "Miss Hawkeye and I will be coming in late." Silence. "Her child nephew has a broken leg, and I just happened to meet them."

"Alright." Hughes replied, "I'll tell the others that you are being 'thou for the people'".

The two men laughed. It felt good to laugh.

* * *

Roy walked to the waiting room to tell _her_, it hurt to refer to her as Hawkeye, not to worry about work. It took a while to find her, as there were many people in the emergency waiting room. Her niece, he noted, was still with her, and looked like she was crying. _Her_ lips were a thin line, and her eyes were sharp. She didn't look worried or flustered. The perfect model for a soldier. 'Just like Riza', he thought, 'Too much like her.' A wave of sorrow hit him.

"Excuse me, Miss Hawkeye."

Lizabeth looked up to see Mustang. She immediately stood up and bowed. "Fuhrer Mustang, I am very sorry to bother you this morning." Her manners were perfect, her clothes were neat and tidy, her hair was caught up in a hair net, and she was too much like Riza.

'What if she is?' A inner voice told him. 'Melissa Hawkeye lost her memory during the earthquake. What if she forgot that she was Elizabeth Hawkeye?' Roy forced himself to answer.

"No, it's alright. I called the boys in the office to tell them what happened."

Lee looked up to see Mustang. She kept staring up at him. "Say hi to Fuhrer Mustang," urged Lizabeth. "Show him your manners."

After staring a little bit more, Lee went up to Mustang and hugged his legs. As it was, that was how tall she was. Then she said, "My name is Lee, what's yours Mr. Fuhrer?"

Roy had to smile, so he did. The child was so innocent of the world, she had no political ties or anything. "I'm Roy Mustang."

"You have the same name as my brother."

* * *

_A/N:_ Finally, another chapter done.

One last question, for those who watched any bit of Winter Sonata, what language did you watch it in?

Till next time! (It's almost summer vacation!)

Edited December 24, 2006


	4. The question about fraternization

A/N: Sorry for the late update, I am one lazy person. I finally finished Chibi Yasha though. For full excuse, look at the bottom of the chapter.

Disclaimer: If I did own Fullmetal Alchemist, my sister wouldn't insult me about my drawings.

* * *

**Winter Sonata**

**Ch. 4

* * *

**

Lizabeth stared at the picture on Roy's desk. It had been a week since Roy, her nephew broke his leg. Roy, the Fuhrer noticed her staring at the picture on his desk.

"That's a picture of all of us when I was a Colonel."

She saw everyone she knew, chain smoking Havoc, walking encyclopedia Falman, electronically talented Fuery, and strategist Brenda. But there was one woman who she did not recognize, it could have been herself, but she never perused a military career before. "Who's that woman?" she asked.

"1st Lt. Riza Hawkeye. My right hand man, er, I mean woman. An excellent sniper." It was painful for him to talk; the two had to be the same person.

"Where is she now?"

"She disappeared during the earthquake. We never found her."

"I'm sorry, it's painful to lose someone, isn't?"

Roy looked up. Lizabeth continued. "I lost my memory during the earthquake. Only my childhood and teenage memories remain. I have no clue about my adult life before living with my sister. And even then there are blanks for those." Roy looked thoughtful.

"Anyways", she dumped the pile of papers on Roy's desk, "All these need to be done within the hour, sir."

Suddenly Al, in the flesh mind you, Ross, and Brosh all ran in the office and barred the door. Roy raised an eyebrow at them.

"Sorry, sir." Al explained. "Hughes just came back from the film developing people place. I think he might of spotted us."

Roy chuckled, but started on his paper work again when Lizabeth glared at him. About 30 minutes later, Mustang looked up. "So, Ross and Brosh."

"Yes, sir?" They both answered.

"What is this proposal about fraternization being allowed?" Mustang grinned mischievously.

"Um," Brosh started, "from what I heard, you only live once." He started to play with his uniform. "And if both the person and their soul mate just both happen to be in the military, one of them would have to quit their job if they wanted to get married."

"Because", Ross continued, "women are supposed to stay home and keep house, it will most likely be the woman who would quit." She looked down, "It would not be fair, both people should still be able to keep their job and stay happy."

Al started to snicker. Lizabeth glanced at him and Roy, wondering where this was going.

"So," Mustang said, "what would happen if this was not passed?"

"I believe sir," Al was trying hard not to laugh out loud, "many people would be disappointed. Mainly two people standing red-faced in front of you. Sir." he added as an afterthought.

There was a silence that seemed like forever, but in reality, it was only five minutes. After a while, a pen scratching was heard, and Mustang asked, "So, when's the wedding?"

Al, Mustang, and Lizabeth, who had finally caught on, started laughing when Ross and Brosh, both who were extremely red faced, ran out of the room to announce the news.

"Finally," Mustang said, "if it had been passed years before, I would be a perfectly content person."

He went back to the proposals, making piles of those that had passed, and those that didn't. "Finished!" he cried out. "I'm off for the day."

"Oh no you aren't sir." Lizabeth came over with a pile of letters, "I don't know what your schedule is," she dropped the letters into his lap, "and I don't know to which places you want to go to. Those letters are from people asking you to come to wherever they are for whatever reason." Roy's happy face fell. "After reading all that, you can take a lunch break."

"But, but," he started to protest, "that's a lot of letters! Can't I do those tomorrow?"

"No, sir. You only make my job harder by procrastinating. Besides, I excluded all the fan letters."

"What! You took out the fan letters! They're the only one's that are interesting though."

"Fan letters should be addressed to your home, not your office."

"But if they find out where I live, I'll have reporters living on my doorstep and crazy fan people would try to break in!"

"Rent a mail box at the post office. Your position does not allow to slack off and read fan mail."

So Roy read those letters. He accepted all those that had to do with charity, the visit to Xing, and the visit to the Briggs mountains to try to work out a boundary of sorts.

"Sir, you cannot be at all the charity causes at once. And you still have paperwork to do even if you are gone."

"Yeah, yeah. Forget it." He thought for a moment, "Say, when's the first meeting?"

"You are to appear for three charity causes next week, each on different days, 2 the next week. Then next month, you are to go to the Briggs to work on the border with Drachma. Two weeks after the visit to the mountains, you are supposed to visit Xing and it's emperor. Any questions?" Mustang nodded no, and went off to lunch.

"Um, sir?"

"Yes, Ri-, I mean Miss Hawkeye?"

"Am I supposed to accompany you to all the charity causes and the meeting with the countries?"

"Yes, I'm a horrible note taker, so I'll need you to take notes."

"Take your own notes sir."

"Well, I am only one man. I can't do everything by myself."

"One more thing sir, what about my family?"

"Bring them with you, that's what Hughes does."

"Yes sir."

Ross walked in. She handed Roy an envelope and asked, "Has she been issued a gun sir?"

"Have you been issued a gun Hawkeye?"

"No sir?"

"Do you mind?" Mustang asked Ross.

She shook her head, and Lizabeth was ordered to follow her.

* * *

A/N: It's kind of like a filler chapter. School has ended, a whole bunch of my relatives have come over from Asia to visit, and I found out that I would be moving out of state. Sorry for the lack of updates.

Next chapter, Hawkeye gets a gun. And what is in that envelope?

Edited December 24, 2006


	5. Riza Hawkeye

A/N: I is now back from the dead. Miss me much?

Disclaimer: I don't know what Arakawa looks like…so I can't be her.

* * *

**Winter Sonata**

**Ch. 5

* * *

**

Ross and Hawkeye were walking down the hallway towards the practice area.

"So," Ross said, "You've never handled a gun before?"

Lizabeth shook her head, "I don't think I ever touched one."

"Well, it's not that hard. You load, aim, and fire." She smiled, "Our best sniper used to carry several guns, she would threaten the Colonel, I mean Fuhrer Mustang by shooting the walls close to his head."

"What do you mean by used to?"

Ross handed her a gun, "Elizabeth Hawkeye disappeared after the last earthquake. She and the Fuhrer were very close, she would follow him everywhere and kept him in line, threatened him to do his paper work, and made sure the mini skirt proposal never got to the higher ups." She chuckled, "You look a lot like her. To the Elric brothers, it was almost like having a mother, she and Mustang made sure they were safe whenever they were in town. Though Ed and the Fuhrer always argued."

"The Elric Brothers? Alphonse Elric has a brother?" She steadied her arm, and aimed.

"Yes, Al's bother brother, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Achemist. He disappeared when the turmoil in the government was revealed to the public. No one knows what happened to him. Al's still looking though, won't give up."

'Load, check. Aim, check. Fire.' Lizabeth fired the gun, 'check.'

Ross went up to inspect. "Bulls eye," she said amazed. "Are you sure that you've never used a firearm before?"

"Dead positive." She looked at Ross and voices started talking in her head. 'Think only about the target when shooting, Ross'. She was herself talking to Ross, except they were both in uniform, and she didn't have glasses. 'You're better than most people with a gun.' She heard the two people burst out laughing. There were black specks floating around her vision, and before she collapsed, she said, "Elizabeth Hawkeye."

* * *

A beeping noise woke her up, she opened her eyes and stared at the starch white ceiling. 'A hospital,' she thought looking around, 'What am I doing here?' Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. A doctor, the Fuhrer and Hughes were talking. She sat up, wondering what had happened. Hughes noticed her and walked over to the bed.

"You fainted," he said, "we're having trouble with identification. You have no hospital records."

"I don't?" she said, "I visited the doctor often when I was younger, I'm sure I have a record."

"No," Roy said, "Melissa Elizabeth Hawkeye does not exist. A Elizabeth Melissa Hawkeye does though. And the two of you have the same medical information when you were younger, along with family. Would you happen to know her?"

"No, I don't."

"It's also strange," Roy continued, "that during the same earthquake, she disappeared, and you lost your memory." He started to yell, his emotions getting the better of him. "The first record of Melissa Hawkeye was after the earthquake! Riza, you know us! Why did you leave? We were so close to reaching the goal, and when I finally did, I couldn't thank you! Why did you go?" Roy was breathing hard, and Lizabeth was afraid to look into his eyes, afraid of the anger she would see in them.

Finally she looked up, but she didn't see anger, it was a different expression, there was pain, and something else. "Sir, I lost my memory, the only way I knew what I did after I finished school was what my aunt told me. But I don't remember any of it." She looked down at the id bracelet the doctors the put on her wrist. There was no name.

"Excuse me." The doctor spoke up, "I need to see to my patient." She shoved Roy out of the way. "Miss Hawkeye, you fainted. Did anything happen before that?"

"Yes, I was at the shooting range, learning to use a gun, I saw Ross, and someone who could have been my twin if I had one." She thought for a moment. "What time is it?"

The doctor checked her watch, "It's 2:23."

Her mind went flying, the kids! They couldn't stay at Hughes forever, neither could they stay by themselves. She groaned, fell back into a pillow, and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Come on Roy," Hughes was saying, "Maybe she really did lose her memory." The two were walking with Lee and Roy, they were taking them to the hospital so they could see their aunt.

"What do you think happened to mother?" Lee asked Roy, her brother, under her voice so Hughes and Mustang couldn't hear.

"I don't know, you think she's sick?" He awkwardly walked around on his crutches, and fell and promptly fell over. "I don't want to go to the hospital place; they gave me this thing," he pointed the cast on his leg, "there. What if they try to give me another one on my other leg?"

"They won't."

The twins looked up to find that they were in a hospital room with Lizabeth in it. They both ran up to her and she hugged them.

"Did you get sick," Roy, her nephew asked, "Cause if you did, whenever you cough, you need to cover your mouth with your arm." Lizabeth and Hughes burst out laughing. Mustang, remained silent.

"No," she reassured the twins, "I didn't get sick. I fell down and didn't wake up." The twins were seated on either side of her, so she put her arms around them. "When do I get discharged?" she asked Hughes.

"After dinner", he said, "They want to make sure that they stuff you before you can go. This hospital has a reputation of stuffing their patients."

* * *

"Hey, Gracia, it's me. I think I'll be home later then usual, we have a problem and I think staying with Roy might be the best solution." He listened to her while she talked. "No, nothing life threatening, it's just someone showed up and he might need some support." He listened for a bit more. "Ok, I'll try to get home in time to tuck Elysia in bed. I love you."

"It's her, right?"

"I don't know Roy, she is supposedly related to the twins by their mother, who is Riza's sister, who doesn't exist. Lizabeth said that the twins mother was her sister, same blood type, early medical history, and parents are the same."

"So it is her. We finally found Riza! But why won't she admit it?"

"She lost her memory, remember? She's telling the truth, then that would explain everything."

"It's her though, right?"

"She may have been born as Riza Hawkeye, but if she doesn't have those memories, they she's Melissa Hawkeye. Her dead twin sister who does not exist.

"She promised to stay by my side no matter what."

"I know Roy, I know."

"Do me a favor Hughes. Research Melissa Hawkeye's relations. She mentioned a aunt. Interview them. That's an order."

* * *

A/N: There's chapter five. Finally. School is going to start and I don't know what district, much less what school, I'm going to go to… Just excellent… I'll try to update faster, now that Chibi Yasha is finished, but on the other hand, I always was a slow updater…

Until next time!

Edited December 24, 2006


	6. The Past

Flava Sava: Yes you were correct. Roy Windsor did brake his leg, not his arm. I'll correct it. Thank you!

Ginger: You know me, I couldn't think of the name so I said film developing people place….

NC Ace: Drama is good for the soul…thank you for reviewing.

saffiremoon21: She will get her memory back eventually, after all, once the ball is set it motion, it will keep going until it runs out of energy or it is stopped. /Starts to roll a ball./ Hehehe.

Thank you everyone else, I'll try to mention everyone eventually…

Onwards to the story! --;;

* * *

**Winter Sonata**

**Chapter 6

* * *

**

"Roy," Hughes spoke, "Do you think it would be wise to continue to let Melissa working for you?"

"Yes, she needs a job."

"Would you be able to keep your emotions in check? You can't keep her as a replacement for Riza. It's insulting to her memory and to Melissa." He grabbed Roy by the shoulder, "Look Roy, she isn't Riza. She might have been Riza Hawkeye before the earthquake, but now, since she has no memory of being Riza, she is Melissa. Her life is separate from the Riza we know."

Roy stayed silent. He continued to walk until he reached his apartment and shut the door in Hughes's face.

* * *

The next day, everyone was staring at her. She heard whispers. Riza Hawkeye's back they said, Everyone knows that she's only sticking around to get a husband, and all that nonsense. During lunch, she tracked down Maria Ross and demanded to know everything.

"It's a long story," Ross said, "Mustang and Hawkeye go back really far. Around the war I think. Maybe before." She paused and started. "They were both in the war, she was a sniper, one of the best, and he was an alchemist. I don't know what happened, but Riza somehow was transferred under his command. I think Hughes had something to do with it. After the war, she continued to stick with him. She could of easily gotten a promotion and could to gotten ahead of Mustang. But she stuck with him, she saw something in him which made her stick with him. They were always promoted together. Then Mustang got Edward Elric to apply as a State Alchemist. They two acted like parents to the Elric brothers. Then the corruption in the army was revealed, it was always Mustang's dream to be Fuhrer. Somehow they got caught in some kind of scheme involving the Fuhrer Bradley. I'm not quite sure about the rest."

"Thank you." The voice was barely audible. "I should get going. I need to file papers."

For some reason, the picture on Mustang's desk of Riza Hawkeye kept looking back at her. And right before she had fainted, she was Riza Hawkeye, instructing Maria Ross how to handle a gun.

She shook her head, she had better finish filing those papers and hope the Fhurer did his work properly. She had an optometrist appointment, and had no wish to be late. Besides, all those headaches were annoying her.

* * *

Extremely crappy chapter. But I wanted to get something posted so you guys know I haven't died or abandoned the story. I hate moving!

Edited December 24, 2006


	7. A Small Shadow

**CHAPTERS 1-6 HAVE BEEN EDITED! PLEASE GO BACK AND RE-READ THEM!

* * *

**

**Winter Sonata**

**Chapter 7

* * *

**

The voice over the phone assured him that she was going to be fine. Brian Anderson was quite happy about that. Once he hung up, he turned to the small group sitting at the table in his shop.

"Evening, gentlemen, ladies." he referred to the people sitting around his table. Each in turn either nodded their greetings or voiced it.

They talked about politics and the country. It was then that Brian mentioned, "We will make our first assassination attempt at the Brigg's mountain. We can use the Drachamanians as scapegoats."

This was met the polite applause, and the group continued to talk, this time about who could they hire for the assassination and the circumstances surrounding the death and how they could blame Drachma for the death.

* * *

It was cold in the Brigg's mountains, but Armstrong's sister, Olivier Milla Armstrong seemed indifferent to the cold. Roy Mustang however was freezing to death. 

"H-h-h-how d-do y-y-y-you d-d-o-o, M-maj-o-or Gen-er-er-al." Mustang managed to stammer out.

"Fine, thank you. Wonderful weather we're having. I'm just glad the weather decided to let up on the snow storm we have had for these last few weeks for your visit."

"Is t-t-tha-t so?" he replied, his jaw starting to hurt from all the stammering. "H-h-h-ow lu-ku-I w-w-we are."

Had Olivier Milla Armstrong rolled her eyes? "Please wait as we do a full body inspection." She left to go inside, leaving them out in the cold.

"W-w-wait!" Mustang cried out, his right arm comically outstretched towards the door the Major General had just gone though. He did a face plant into the snow a few seconds later, only to hear laughter.

He lifted his head from the snow, "What's so funny?" he barked out. "You want to see your leader die of freezing cold?" He saw only white, not a single person was out with him.

"Maes Hughes!" he bellowed. "Come out now or I'll ban you from the photo developing people place!"

There was giggling, as a snowball whizzed past his head, missing him by centimeters.

"Aw." A small childish voice spoke, "I missed him."

"Then try again." Another childish voice said.

"Try to hit the back of his head. Papa says he hates it when people do that." Elysia's voice, he was positive.

Roy Mustang refused to let children have the better of him. Sneaking around, he hoped the children would not spot his navy blue coat which was sticking out like an eyesore in the snow.

"Hey, where did that man go?"

"I thought you were keeping track of him, Lee."

"No, onee-chan said she would."

"That can't be right." Came Elysia's voice, "I said I would make the snowballs." She held up a packed bit of snow that looked suspiciously like a throwing knife. Damn you Hughes, he thought, if I die because you taught your daughter how to throw knifes…

"Then you were supposed to Roy!" his sister accused him.

Suddenly Elysia threw several of the snow knifes. "Found him!" Mustang barely melted the blasted knives before they hit him.

* * *

An hour later, when they were finally let inside the fort for their inspection, Mustang demanded, "Why the heck did you leave us out there so long?!" 

"It was a test," the Major General said coming into the room. "There is not point in keeping you here if you cannot survive the cold for some time. I am afraid that you," she said, meaning Mustang, "failed."

Mustang fell to his knees with the words 'failure' written in big, bold, letters over his head.

"However," she continued, "It would be treason to let you freeze outside to death." Then she added darkly under her breath, "and insubordination…"

She moved on, approving of Hughes who attempted to show her picture of his family, Al, who stiffly saluted her as she passed by, only relaxing and letting out his breath when the Major General was two people away from him.

She stopped at Lizabeth, to whom she said, "You do not exist. We cannot allow you inside any further."

The twins clutched her jacket on either side as Mustang shouted, "What?!"

"She could be a spy for all we know. The first priority at this fort is the safety of the people of this country. We are the first defense. Any potential risks will not be allowed to see the inner workings of the north."

"She's perfectly safe if you ask me," said Hughes seriously. "The investigation department found nothing on her, apart from the identity problem."

"We are not soft like those in Central. Many missions have gone wrong because one party relied on information from another. I do not allow mistakes in my jurisdiction."

* * *

Another hour later, they were all in, and just in time too, for the Fuhrer had his first meeting with the Drachmanians in 30 minutes. 

"We demand the whereabouts of the Fullmetal Alchemist. Either that or we have no agreement at all."

Mustang sighed, that Fullmetal pipsqueak was in hiding somewhere and the only contact he had was through his brother Al.

"We do not know where Fullmetal is, now, if we could move on the boundry?"

"No," the Drachmanian leader said, "For the safety of my country, we must know the whereabouts of such a dangerous individual."

"I don't know where he is. Though if you wish to search for him, I'd advise looking at extremely prosperous places, or places with extreme turmoil."

"Are you asking for Drachma to invade you?"

"Eh? Did it come out like that?"

* * *

When day one of the talks were over, all that was accomplished was that if the new boundaries and treaties were approved, Drachma would have permission to look for Fullmetal within Amestris, within limits, that was.

* * *

Lizabeth was not having a good day. She did not exist. After snooping around in Hughes's notes, she found out that she was not really Lee and Roy's aunt. In fact, their mother's name was Mary. Plus she felt another headache coming on. 

She sat down next to the window and watched the twins play outside with Elysia. They were currently pelting Mustang with snowballs/knives, rubbing her temples, she looked into the mirror.

She looked a lot like Riza Hawkeye, her twin who had died in the earthquake.

* * *

In day two of the talks, they finally got somewhere. 

They were huddled around the map, crossing out and redrawing lines. Finally after much argument, they had the boundary drawn out.

"You do realize that the mapmakers and surveyors are going to kill us?" Mustang asked.

The new boundary was a mass of squiggles going up and down, generally all over the place. But it satisfied the two leaders.

Day three was all treaties. How many dams Drachma could put on the rivers flowing into Amestris, mixed patrols in the neutral zones to promote peace and no logging in that area. Plus economics. Economics took up days three, four, and five. Drachma wanted a foothold in the Amestris woodwork industry, but the northern border already had a monopoly over it and refused to budge. Amestris wanted some oil from Drachma, but Drachma refused to give a drop unless they were allowed to ship their wood products into Amestris.

Day six, everything was put into writing, and a cleaner map was made to be sent to the capitols of the countries for the representatives to vote on. It was agreed that Drachma could export into Amestris as long as there was a somewhat expensive tariff on the items. Drachma gave Amestris oil, but she would have to refine it herself.

Then it was a week of waiting.

* * *

**A/N:** Please note that all the other chapters have been edited and you should go back and read them, I have changed information. In regards to this story, I will have it following canon as close as possible, so there will be spoilers. By cannon I mean book cannon. 

And question, do you like it if I reply to your reviews? Because I have a habit of not replying unless I'm positive I know the person wants me to reply.

I also have a livejournal, which I plan on posting stuff that will never make it on Link is on bio, please excuse this somewhat shameless advertising.

Happy holidays 2006!


	8. A week of waiting

**Winter Sonata**

**Ch. 8**

* * *

Roy Mustang sat at his desk thinking. The room was warm compared to the weather outside. If one wasn't careful, the weather could kill you. Only the strong could survive anywhere near the Briggs Mountains. 

Three more days until the reply from the Amestris legislature would arrive on the new treaty. He had no doubt that the men would send it back with their own corrections and demand that those but put in the final draft, but they would ratify it in the end. He was sure of it, Drachma was the lumberyard of the world, with it's rich forests. And Amestris who was still recovering from the Homunculus's plans needed wood to build, and for furniture. He was sick of having the legislation being crammed into his office with hundreds of spindly benches at four to a bench. It was about time that they get their own building with proper chairs.

Not that they didn't have their own wood, the northern woodsmen of Amestris had the monopoly in Amestris; only because trade tariffs were so high, but the workmanship of Drachma was far superior. A proud new building to seat the representatives of democracy would boost the morale of the people, especially since the Homunculus's plans were beginning to be revealed to the public.

The corruption of the higher ups, the country annexing it's neighbors in order to have enough land to be able to create a transmutation circle, the massacres, riots, and wars for the human sacrifices. This information would scar Amestris for generations, with possibly the banning of alchemy and mistrust of the military. When he and Riza had first dreamed, they knew that they would end up burning themselves…

Mustang snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. Upon replying, General Olivier Milla Armstrong stepped into the room with a hooded figure by her side.

"Do you need something, General?" he asked, trying to see around her to get a look at the person by her side. "I don't think I'm very busy right now, if you wanted to sit and talk." He gestured towards the chairs in front of his desk. The General and her companion stepped into the room and sat down. He ignored the stranger and addressed her, "Yes?"

"Him" the General said, referring to her person next to her.

The person by Olivier's side drew back the hood of his red jacket. The blond hair with determined eyes, and that smirk…

"Elric!" Mustang barked out, "what are you doing here?!"

"And hello to you too, you bastard Colonel" the no longer vertically challenged state alchemist replied. "Aren't you going to offer a cup of tea?" That smirk again, it always had the same effect on him, somewhat unnerving and annoying. A sign that big things, usually havoc and destruction, would happen sometime in the very near future.

Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist had disappeared amidst the revolution that had occurred before Roy gained the position of Fuhrer. Some said that he died a heroic death for his country, others said that he exiled himself, wandering from place to place causing havoc wherever he went. Mustang was personally for the argument that Elric was hiding until everything died down. The Rockbell girl also went missing, but Alphonse hadn't seemed to worried.

His appearance had changed. He had cut his hair short so it couldn't be braided, and he had grown taller, slightly taller than him even. He still wore those white gloves, as evidence to the automail he still wore. Though they had been able to return Al to his original body, and though it wasn't their original intention, and Izumi had protested, return her inner organs, the price for restoring Edward had been too high. But despite that, that determined glint was still in his eyes. Eyes full of fire he had once described them as.

Mustang laughed, it was good to see Elric again, despite what might come out of it. The shrimp had always managed to stir up trouble wherever he went. "Sit, sit." he told them, "I'll get some tea." He stood up to walk to the small table with tea supplies. Within a few minutes, he had a hot cup in front of each of them.

"So what brings you two here?" Mustang asked, this time his tone more serious. Edward took a sip out of the cup and promptly gagged on it.

"What is it, the lemon crap again?" he demanded. "I thought you didn't like this stuff yourself!"

"I don't" Mustang replied, tilting his cup toward Edward so he could see the contents. It was black coffee. Edward glared at him, after all, he had specifically asked for tea when he came in.

"If you boys are finished…" the general started. Both men nodded and settled back down.

"Fullmetal came by last night," she continued, sipping her drink, green tea, setting the cup back down. "I didn't have a moment until this afternoon to bring him by to meet you." She nodded at Edward, "Tell him."

"I decided to lay low for a while" Edward started, "So I kept traveling like Al and I had done before. Except this time a bit more quietly, it's amazing what the people will talk about in the middle of the streets.

"Anyway, while I was in the south visiting Teacher, I walked into a restaurant and overheard some people talking. They called themselves separatists, those who could trace their roots back to when Amestris was a new country before she started to annex her neighbors. Riveria, Ishval, Reole…" He started naming countries had had been independent centuries back, including some more recent ones. "Most of the countries were represented, they looked like they were just doing business, but I happened to overhear them. They're planning on assassinating you and your staff to take over your office and reinstate the individual countries. They don't want the democracy, they think it'll unite the people of the country, which it has. They want their own slice of the pie, and the easiest way to get it would be to command the countries into existence…and using the army to silence the protesters."

Mustang abruptly stood up and walked to the window left of his desk. He stared out of it, watching the snow swirling around, dancing in unpredictable patterns. The three children were playing in the snow with some off duty soldiers, Alphonse was also with them. He wondered if Edward had shared this information with his brother yet.

Mae Hughes suddenly burst into the room.

"Roy, look at these pict…" his voice trailed off as he spotted the company in the room. "Edwar- mpht." He was cut off by the general's hand covering his mouth.

"He's not here," she hissed, now uncovering Hughes's mouth. He nodded, understanding perfectly. He took the chair on Edward's other side.

"So what's the kid been doing lately?" Hughes asked. "Brewing up some more trouble for us down in Central?"

"No, uncovering it more like." Mustang replied. He gave Hughes a brief rundown. "Excuse me, I need to call Sheska.

"This is the Fuhrer, yes." A pause. "Just get Sheska on the phone now, it's important. I don't care, it can wait, I have an assignment for her." He sighed and leaned back against his chair, ready to wait a little. His fingers were just itching to snap. "Sheska? Yes, I want you to find all of those who can trace their ancestry back to before the country was founded, and those who can trace their linage back the countries Amestris annexed. Then for the people who show up, get me a list of those who live or were in the Southern area within…" he looked at Edward for a clue. He mouthed 'six months' "six months" Mustang echoed. There was a pause as Mustang let Sheska talk for a minute. "Put everything else off." he commanded her. "I want this within a month." The onlookers heard a wail emitting from the phone as Mustang winced and held the phone away from his ear. Replacing it, he turned his attention back to the people in front of him. "We'll have our list of suspects soon."

"Careful," Edward warned. "I heard they had a spy or something. They have one in communications and one in the office. I had to leave after that or risk getting caught. They know your movements but you don't know theirs."

"We're going to have to wait for a list of suspects first before we can do anything" Hughes said, "With the past events coming to light now, anything, an earthquake, massacre, even if it wasn't remotely related to the military, is going to be blamed on you unless otherwise said.

"Consider every outing as an assassination attempt." General Armstrong said. "And leave the back door open for yourself, until the central government stabilizes and the transfer of power from military to government happens, you're going to be a key figure. Of course, if you die, I could probably take over."

Mustang glared at her, but didn't say anything. "So, Edward, what are you going to do now?"

* * *

'Hawkeye' the name rang in her head. 'Hawkeye' 

Lizabeth Hawkeye was sitting at a table, cleaning her gun. It felt right, carefully wiping down the parts and then reassembling them, creating a weapon that could protect. She wielded a gun to protect.

Or did she? Lizabeth had no clue where that thought had come from. It felt to natural to handle a gun, and she heard the rumors, seen the records, and heard Mustang confirm it himself that he had been a student of Hawkeye sensei, and his daughter Riza had lived with him. She remembered Mustang, remembered that she had given birth to the Flame Alchemist. The faces and facts might add up, but the names didn't.

Absentmindedly, she picked up the gun and walked out of the room to go to the firing range. She walked around in a daze, her feet guiding her, her mind blank. But she found the place, it was like she had been there before.

* * *

Not too far from her was Mustang and Edward. 

"You mean she lost her memory?!" Edward spoke quietly, but his tone was one of disbelief. It was slightly difficult to hear over the gunshots, but they did not want Hawkeye to know that they were there. "How? Then how come she goes by a different name?"

Mustang glanced warily at him; the 'shrimp' was a nosy as ever. "You know that earthquake we had about five years ago?" he asked. Edward nodded. "Well, the day of the earthquake was Riza's day off, we searched for her, but we never found her." Edward remained thankfully quiet, on Mustang's part, so he continued. "About a month ago, I advertised a secretary position and she was one of the applicants. She was one of the few who passed all the tasks we set for them, plus she fought the best. The rest of us were shocked by the similarity, but we hired her anyways." Mustang drew in a deep breath and continued.

"I had Hughes do some snooping. In recent records, a Elizabeth Hawkeye shows up as Melissa Elizabeth's twin sister who died at birth. But if you go to the records where both of them should have been born…"

"Melissa doesn't exist." Edward finished for him. "And they only tampered with the new records because the old ones don't exist, Schezka's still writing them out, isn't she?" A few years ago, there had been a fire in the records department, burning a period of 40-20 years ago worth of records. Luckily, Schezka had read those and was still recopying them. He supposed it would be rather hard to falsify records that did not currently exist.

Mustang remained silent, "Then those kids of hers," Edward asked, "if she doesn't have a sister, whose are they?"

"We're still trying to figure that one out. We have confirmed that Riza and Lizabeth are the same person, she has the same base personality, she remembers me being her father's alchemy student. She also says that during the earthquake, she fell into a river and hit her head against a rock, hence a memory loss from her late teenage years to when she hit her head. She doesn't even remember what river she fell in, or what city."

"They must of tampered with her memory," Edward stated. "But why don't you tell her that she's Riza? If that's who she really is, shouldn't she know?"

Mustang gave a twisted smile full to painful emotions, "I think she suspects, with all the gossip that goes on in the office. She's been doing some digging of her own, and she's held up remarkably under the mental strain. You should of seen her when the General Armstrong told her that her identity doesn't exist." He sighed. "Besides, she doesn't know who Riza Hawkeye is, she has built a new life for herself as Melissa Elizabeth. Until she discovers for herself that she is Riza, we are not going to do anything. The physiological pressure would drive anyone to the brink of insanity."

"But for her…for her to think that she has a twin sister who died at birth…"

"I know Fullmetal, but who and why would they tamper with her memory?"

They both stared at the woman in the firing range, blindly firing rounds into the practice dummy, all rounds hitting the correct points in the body. They saw the desperation and confusion written plainly on her face. They were not the only ones concerned with her identity. Both of them could guess why they would tamper with Hawkeye's memory, but...

"_Who?"_, they both echoed in their minds.

* * *

A/N: And six months later I update… Anyhow, the plot is slowly crawling, but going somewhere nonetheless. And we have plot development of sorts in this chapter! I'm so happy I can cry! Hehe, can't wait to see what Edward will bring with him. 

Thank you everyone for your reviews, and to those who have thought positive thoughts about this story but just haven't transmitted them electronically. The next chapter will be titled **The cause and effect of Edward Elric**, and will hopefully wrap up the Briggs mountains. It should be out in about…three weeks. That is if nothing goes wrong…

_First draft May 23-June 8, 2007_


	9. The Cause and Effect of one Edward Elric

**Winter Sonata**

**Chapter 9**

The Cause and Effect of one Edward Elric

* * *

Disclaimer: In no way do I own Fullmetal Alchemist. This is just my version of the story with a twist.

**Warning! Major spoilers for recent chapters! **That is, if you know where to look.

* * *

Alphonse Elric, now age 20, was enjoying the company of his childhood friend, Winry Rockbell, and the twins Roy and Lee. Winry squealed at the sight of the two children, like she would of at the sight of automail, and immediately ordered the twins to address her as older sister. In the middle of a mock snowball fight (mock because it was impossible to pin down where Al was half the time), there was a huge explosion behind them where the military headquarters was situated. As they turned around to look, they saw Edward running at them with a sheepish look.

"Hey! Al! I need your help! Could you come-" his words were cut off as Al punched him. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You come up north and you don't say 'hi' to your own brother?!"

"Well…I…" Suddenly Edward sprung up and attacked Al. Al retaliated, in a matter of seconds, the fight was over. "I'll never beat you, will I?" asked Ed.

Al just grinned while Winry wondered at the stupidity of the two brothers. Behind them came another explosion, Roy and Lee just clutched her jacket.

"Hey! Keep them safe!" Ed yelled over his shoulder at her as he and Al were running towards the military HQ.

Winry sighed. Boys. She would never understand them.

* * *

"What's with all these explosions, Brother?" Al yelled over the noise. "What happened here?"

"Mrs. Hughes!" Ed shouted at her. She was looking around frantically, wondering what was going on. "Take your daughter and go out that way." He pointed at where he and all had just come through. "Winry's out there with the twins, hurry!" He sent her off before turning back to Al to narrate what had happened that morning.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?" the Drachmanian leader stormed through the doors to the room which Roy was using as an office. "An assassination attempt?! I'm calling this treaty off!"

"What are you talking about?" demanded Mustang, instantly on his guard. "An assassination attempt? By whom?"

"Don't play innocent with me, young man, I've been in enough conspiracies in my lifetime to know an-" he was cut off as Roy snapped his fingers. The shot of flame went past the Drachamanian and hit a shadow in the hallway. It started screaming, and Armstrong immediately went to apprehend it. There was silence for a moment until they heard Edward's voice through the window. Both turned around and saw the Fullmetal Alchemist at the window holding up an unconscious man.

"Hey Colonel," he said to Mustang, "Do we know this guy? 'cause I don't remember this gun being military issued." He held up a familiar looking gun. It wasn't military issued but it still looked familiar. Roy glanced at the other man inside the room. He was as white as a sheet and trembling furiously. Then it hit him.

"Isn't that one of those Drachmanian guns?" He looked at the man, "Assassination, eh?"

That was when the first explosion was heard.

BOOM!

* * *

Lizabeth Hawkeye was making her way towards the Fuhrer's office when she spotted several black figures running around trying to stay unnoticed. Instinctively she grabbed her gun out of her holster and shot at one of them. From the angle she shot it at, the bullet injured the figure's arm and leg. It fell unconscious. However, it's partner wanted revenge. The other black figure launched itself at Lizabeth, knocking her over. They grappled for a minute before someone knocked the other person out.

"Are you alright?" came a muffled voice. She looked up and saw a pair of familiar eyes. Lizabeth couldn't remember where she saw them, but they were familiar and comforting.

"Yes," she whispered, "I'm fine."

"Sorry about this…" the figure said before pressing a few points in her body to knock her out.

Her last thoughts before darkness claimed her was, 'two different parties.'

* * *

The leaders of the two countries hurried to where the explosions were occurring. At the bottom floor of the fort, close to where Sloth had once dug its way through, were five men in Drachmanian uniform setting off bombs.

"Seize them!" cried the elder of the two men who had just entered the scene. Immediately his personal guards advanced upon them to attempt to capture the imposters. One man was instantly cut down as one of the imposters had an automail arm with a hidden blade.

Mustang sensed movement behind him. Their footsteps were too light to be military issued boots of either country. He held both hands behind his back and snapped simultaneously.

"YOU BASTARD COLONEL! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" shouted a voice behind him. Mustang turned around to stare at Ed and Al. "Because you know," he said, between he and Al, they held up six unconscious men in the suspicious color of the day, black. "we did just knock these guys out for you."

"Ah." Mustang looked thoughtful. "Thank you, pipsqueak."

"What did you just call me?" Edward said dangerously.

"I said pipsqueak."

"You dare call me _that_," Ed said advancing on Mustang, five more assassins were knocked to the ground as Ed tried to get to Mustang, "Even though I am taller than you?!" He clapped his hands together.

"Big brother," began Al, "I don't think you should…" He was cut short as Ed's transmutation began to take place.

Al lost his balance due to Ed's transmutation. Several dragon shaped objects flew from the ground around Mustang. They were headed his direction, but all of them missed. Amused, he watched the dragons go after all the assassins in the room, where were quite many of them too.

The dragons 'swallowed' the assassins, after being swallowed, the assassins turned up in the middle of the dragon's body, arms locked the sides of his or her body, only the head and legs sticking out.

Ed had a steely glint in his eyes; his face was serious as it ever was. He was furious. All the assassins had been collected by this time, and Edward sent the dragons against the walls and floors, their legs being dragged and cut by the various object littered around from the previous fight, their heads banging against the walls.

BOOM!

There was another explosion as one of the bombs set up exploded. By this time Olivier Milla Armstrong and most of her men had come down to see what was behind the explosions.

Edward directed his anger towards the remaining bombs also. A few of the dragons crashed into the bombs, causing many a explosion, but not as much as if it had gone off naturally. "You dare, you dare!" he kept repeating to the people stuck in his dragons.

"Edward Elric! Stop this at once!" General Armstrong ordered as she watched the destruction of the ground level of her beloved fort. She didn't dare go near him though. The sparks from constant alchemy was warning enough.

"Fullmetal!" Mustang warned. It was pointless, none of their voices reached him, not even Al's.

The Drachmanians stood in horror and awe at the power a single Amestrisean could wield when threatened.

"YOU BASTARDS DARE KILL A DREAM THAT'S ALMOST ACHIEVED?! YOU DARE TO KILL THE FUTURE OF THIS COUNTRY?!" He was unstoppable until…

"Edward!" Winry Rockbell had come down to the bottom level to see if she could do anything. While the sound of her voice did nothing, the hug she gave him did. She braved the alchemic sparks, something no one else did, to reach him. The pressure from her hug broke his concentration.

The assassins fell to the floor limp, many of them knocked out, the others too afraid to try anything. The dragons were reabsorbed into the ground and there was silence as everybody visibly relaxed.

As General Armstrong barked orders to her men, Roy surveyed his surroundings. The floor they were on was almost destroyed. Fullmetal was slumped down on the floor with Winry Rockbell, tears streaming down on her face. Military men were trickling through the doorways with tied and gagged assassins. He counted a good thirty to forty men and women. He thought about it. That was quite a lot of people to kill one person. Who was their man target? The Drachmanian leader, or himself? Why had both men been targeted? He glanced around again. Five soldiers had died, many more were wounded. He saw Glacia enter with Elysia and Leslie at her side, and a small body in her arms. Maes Hughes was following his wife's footsteps, noting everything he saw.

Where was Lizabeth Hawkeye?

* * *

Hours later there was a final count. There were 37 assassins, 28 wounded, and 7 dead. The assassins were tied up, gagged, and then led to Hughes for interrogation. The wounded had their injuries treated, out of the 28, there were 2 civilians injuried, Mrs. Hughes and Miss Rockbell. Of the dead, 6 were in military of uniform of either country, 1 was a civilian, Roy Windsor.

The bottom floor of the northern fort was trashed, the Fullmetal Alchemist was scheduled the next day to rebuild everything with his alchemic skills. He was not court marshaled, the injured, dead, and the tears of his childhood friend, even if they weren't his fault, was punishment enough for him. Anything else would have no effect, the movements would all be mechanical.

And there was one missing, Melissa Elizabeth Hawkeye.

* * *

She woke up in the corner of a darkened hallway. She couldn't remember anything, not her name or who she was, or anything. But she did know that she was alive, and that there were moving, talking, shadows heading her direction.

A buried memory surfaced in her mind at the idea of a moving, talking, shadow. One of pain and fear. She was paralyzed in fear, a droplet of sweat rolled off her face. It was getting closer and closer. Her heart beat faster, it sounded so loudly in her ears that she was surprised that no one else had heard it. As the shadow turned the corner, she did the first thing her mind ordered her to do. She screamed.

She screamed so loudly, that the whole fort heard. She saw the shadow still at her scream, and adrenaline coursed though her veins, but she was paralyzed. She kept screaming, screaming because she knew this time around, it was ok. It was ok to scream this time. Why was it ok, she didn't know.

But she was still screaming when hands grabbed her wrist and jerked her head upwards so she met a pair of eyes.

The eyes were dark and warm, but she saw a shadow behind that person. The short shadow had cold malicious eyes, eyes that pierced souls, eyes that had seen much, eyes that nothing could faze, for it had already seen all. Eyes that sent her once again spiraling into unconsciousness.

* * *

Maes Hughes gathered the two leaders into a meeting room to discuss with them the recent events that had happened just a few hours ago. Amidst the chaos and pandemonium that had followed, the two governments had sent their replies on the treaty. Hughes gave them his report.

"It's a very strange affair," he started. "The two of you were targeted, while neither one had ordered an assassination attempt. Because of this, it has been concluded that that there were two parties, neither aware of the other, attempting to assassinate a leader of a country, while trying to lay the blame of the other country. The assassins are Amestrains, all amateurs.

Each group has been very well informed of Mustang's movements, one group has already been identified as the 'separatists', a small society of people wishing to revert Amestris back to the smaller countries it swallowed up in the past centuries. The other group apparently, just wants power. And apparently, they don't care which way they get it. But both parties have their eyes on the Fuhrer's position."

They talked longer about the day's assassination attempt. Drachma would not press charges, as long as Amestris recompensed for Drachma's dead soldiers, since they had been killed by Amestris's citizens. They were about to move on to discuss the final outcome of the treaty when a hair splitting scream was heard.

* * *

Maria Ross had plenty of help getting Miss Hawkeye to the Hospital ward of the fort. She dispatched a man to inform Mustang that she had been found and another to inform Mrs. Hughes and the other civilians.

What worried her was the single word that Hawkeye had uttered before falling unconscious.

"Seylim."

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, another chapter down. Even though I didn't get the chapter out in three weeks like I said I would, I would say that two months is a vast improvement from six months.

So, we have two parties after the Fuhrer office, and Hawkeye has managed to recover one memory. Of course, I'm still not quite sure if she remembers anything else at this point though… And we have a dead person, incase someone didn't catch that.

Ah, if you have time, please check out my newest story **The Roman Society**, it's not under FMA but Harry Potter, which is part of the reason why this chapter took so long. I'm really attached to the idea I thought of for that fic and I'd like some feedback…

But fear not, Winter Sonata is not to be abandoned. I plan on updating at least one more time before school starts. Either that or at the beginning of the school year.

Thank you for your patience!

* * *

_First draft June 23-August 7, 2007_

_First post August 7, 2007_


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